Jacky

Jacky’s Final Video of Omnidirectional Wheel Robot and Experience at BlueStamp

I became interested in BlueStamp when I tried applying for college summer programs at a program called MindsMatter. I wanted to find a major that I might want to study at college and engineering is one such major I am interested in. Therefore, I applied to BlueStamp and got accepted in the end. I was really excited about it because only a few students were invited to apply to BlueStamp from MindsMatter. I was really looking forward to BlueStamp and the future projects that I might be doing. However, since I actually didn’t know much about engineering, I was actually scared to begin the program.

Now that I have completed the program and the projects, I can really be sure that I love engineering. I learned a lot from BlueStamp. Initially, building my Omni-Directional Wheel Robot was actually tedious, frustrating, and exhausting but in the end it came out to be enjoyable, thrilling, and remarkable.

Throughout the six weeks, I experienced what engineering is about and learned how to use engineering related equipment. I’ve been taught how to solder, use the breadboard, write code onto the arduino, use a saw and other dangerous equipment . If it weren’t for the instructors and colleagues of the program, I would still be wondering what engineering was really about. I learned many useful skills of engineering and in life (using the dangerous equipment). I am really grateful for BlueStamp and it has definitely increased my interest in engineering.

Jacky’s First Person Experience for the Omni-Directional Wheel Robot

In this video, you would experience a first hand view of how my robot moves. My Omni-Directional Wheel Robot is created by the materials of Vex’s Robotics Kit (refer from Milestone 5) and is coded by example codes and own modifications.

The Omni-Directional Wheel Robot works by the three vex motors spinning the wheels with the code from the arduino (refer information from Milestone 5). The arduino holds the code for spinning the wheels and controlling with the Playstation2 controller. The Playstation2 controller is used to command the motors to either go forward, backwards, left, right, and spin around at a 360 angle. However, in order for the Playstation controller to control the motors to do that, it would need a connection with the arduino. This is where the Playstation2 Controller Cables comes in to help. Being attached to the arduino, the Playstation2 controller can communicate with the arduino by the help of the cables. However, the motors would be hard to control by itself, therefore it involves the help of the vex motor controllers. The vex motor controllers turns the three motor into a continuous servo motor. In other words, the motor controls makes the motors into a servo and makes it easier to control with. The robot or to be more specfic, the motors are powered by the 7.2V battery in order to move. All the wires that needs to be connected such as the motor controllers, cable and battery is connected to the arduino. The arduino is powered by a 9V Battery Case for everything to start work.

Enjoy the video!

Jacky’s Omni-Directional Robot Milestone

I’ve completed my fifth milestone in completing my Omni-directional Robot. I used Vex’s Robotics Building Kit to create the structure of the robot. The wheels on the structure board are from vex and are omni-directional. In other words, the wheels can move in any direction that you want it to move. I have three vex motors and motor controllers to regulate the speed of the wheels. I have a Playstation controller that controls the functions of the wheel by turning the knobs. The signal is connected wirelessly to the cables. In this video I have my three motors running the three wheels with the controls of my Playstation controller.

Jacky’s Solarspeeder (Starter Project)

For my starter project, I build a solarspeeder made from Sparkfun.

It was pretty interesting and fun to build on the first day of the program. I learned about the parts and functions of the car moreover, how it works. It was fun building it and I strongly encourage future students to build one.